Schomburgk's Deer

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iSchomburgk's Deer
Conservation status
Extinct
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Mammalia Order: Artiodactyla Family: Cervidae Subfamily: Cervinae Genus: Cervus Species: C. schomburgki
Binomial name
Cervus schomburgki Blyth, 1863

The Schomburgk's Deer (Cervus schomburgki) is a member of the family Cervidae. This deer was endemic to Thailand. The Schomburgk's deer was described by Edward Blyth in 1863 and named after Sir Robert H. Schomburgk who was the British consul in Bangkok from 1857-1864.

The wild population of Schomburgk’s deer is thought to have died out around 1932, with the last captive individual being killed in 1938. The species is also listed as extinct in the 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.^[1] However, some scientists consider this species to be still extant.^[2]

The Schomburgk's deer inhabited swampy plains with long grass, cane, and shrubs. This deer avoided dense vegetation. Commercial production of rice for export began in the late nineteenth century in Thailand leading to the loss of nearly all grassland and swamp areas this deer depended on. Intensive hunting pressure at the turn of the century restricted the species further until it became extinct.^[3]

In 1991, antlers were discovered in a Chinese medicine shop in Laos. Laurent Chazée, an agronomist with the United Nations, later identified the antlers from a photograph he took as coming from the Schomburgk's deer.^[4] It is possible that the Schomburgk's deer survives in Laos, but further research is needed to confirm that.

[edit] External links

• The Extinction Website - Species Info - Schomburgk's Deer
• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Cervus schomburgki

[edit] See also

• List of extinct animals of Asia

[edit] References

• World Conservation Monitoring Centre (1996). Cervus schomburgki. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 09 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is listed as extinct
• ↑ MacPhee, R.D.E. and Flemming, C. 1999. Requiem Æternam. The last five hundred years of mammalian species extinctions. In: R.D.E. MacPhee (ed.) Extinctions in Near Time, pp.333-371. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
• ↑ Schoering, W.B., 1995. Swamp Deer resurfaces. Wildlife Conservation, vol 98, December, p22.
• ↑ World Conservation Monitoring Centre 1996. Cervus schomburgki. In: IUCN 2004. 2004 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 22 April 2006. [5]